A couple of months ago, we compiled some of our favorite r&b dance tracks from the 2000s. The music world, however, is vast and dance music is celebrated in many forms so today, let’s shift our focus to another conduit of dance tunes: electronic music.
Though electronic music has been present for decades, the 80’s and 90’s saw the airwaves dominated by bands and pop singers. When the 21st century came, younger generations took notice of EDM as dance culture started to pick up again due to the contributions of a number of amazing electronic DJs. So with that in mind, here are some of them and their songs which have already achieved classic status.
5 EDM Tracks of the 2000s That Are Now Classics
“One More Time” – Daft Punk (2000)
The French duo Daft Punk may have dished out many awesome tracks even before 2000 came about, but their release at the turn of the century firmly cemented their place in the electronic music history books.
“One More Time” was both a commercial and critical hit worldwide which landed spots in multiple ‘best lists’ from notable music publications including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Mixmag. In fact, when the last of the three started a poll on the greatest dance record of all time, this song made it to the top.
“Where’s Your Head At” – Basement Jaxx (2001)
“Where’s Your Head At” was so successful that it even charted high on non-dance music charts in the US and beyond when it was released. It entered the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks list which is dominated by alternative rock.
Inevitably, the song’s popularity caught the attention of people outside the music industry, most notably visual media. Among its biggest high-profile exposures was in the movie Tomb Raider – the first big screen adaptation of the iconic video game franchise that starred Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Its soundtrack which includes the British electronic duo’s masterpiece drew more attention to the film according to Thump and eventually, the movie became a classic in its own right to the point of getting its own Tomb Raider licensed slots game on Slingo, a popular European gaming platform. To put it simply, “Where’s Your Head At” broke the boundaries of its genre and permeated every facet of entertainment.
“Satisfaction” – Benny Benassi (2002)
The Italian DJ Benny Benassi basically pushed the electronic house sub-genre to the foreground of dance music with “Satisfaction”. The song reached visual media as well and featured in numerous movie soundtracks, TV shows, commercials and video games like White Chicks, Beavis and Butthead, and DJ Hero – the DJ version of the popular game franchise Guitar Hero.
“Waters of Nazareth” – Justice (2005)
Justice is another French tandem who broke ground in EDM. Their creation “Waters of Nazareth” redefined dance music and LA Weekly specified that the song even helped pave the way for the emergence of the now popular dubstep genre. The distortion-infused track influenced a handful of DJs, who would later on make it big as well, such as Deadmau5, Steve Aoki and Skrillex.
“Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit” – Fedde Le Grand (2006)
Although Fedde le Grand’s “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit” is a sample of an earlier track by American DJs Disco D and Matthew Dear, it became a massive hit globally and got its own remix versions by artists in several countries like Spain and Germany, not to mention English-speaking nations. The song is actually in homage to Detroit electronic music which has its own identity now known as ‘Ghetto Tech’.
5 EDM Tracks of the 2000s That Are Now Classics – Playlist
Here are all five of the EDM tracks in a playlist format for your listening enjoyment…
All in all, these songs are among the best of the best, but still, they make up only a tiny fraction of all the great EDM tracks out there. So what’s your favorite classic EDM track?
If you’re planning a wedding or event in Seattle, Tacoma or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest and want a great DJ, contact Dubreezy Entertainment and schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to get pricing, give us a call at (206) 595-4948.
Photo credit: TVZ Design
